Elephant Killer Doesn’t Deserve Your Business

Dear Friend,

I was absolutely appalled when I heard that Go Daddy founder and CEO Bob Parsons posted a video in which he goes on vacation in Zimbabwe and apparently kills an elephant — and then claimed he is a hero for having done so. Villagers’ crops were saved from being trampled, he said, and by eating the slain beast Africans were getting a much-needed protein boost.

The video, as they say, went viral. Compassionate people such as you objected to the hunt and Parsons’ self-congratulatory tone. He condescendingly shrugged off such protests:

“Their hearts are in the right place, but they don't understand the situation. If they’d go on one of my trips to Zimbabwe, they’d understand.” Last month’s trip was his sixth to Africa, he said.

I have been to Africa some 70 times. What Parsons says about elephants — how they are overpopulated in Zimbabwe, how villagers are defenseless against them, how he is “taking care of them very selectively, so that the farmer's crops are safe” — is self-serving nonsense. For a more complete rebuttal of Parsons’ various claims about hunting elephants and his latest adventure, see my latest blog.

Born Free USA had been doing a little business with Go Daddy, an Internet domain registrar. Upon learning of the Zimbabwe hunt and video, we quickly took steps to divorce ourselves completely from Parsons and his company. If you have any such ties, we implore you to cut them ASAP. Simply find an alternate registrar (such as Dotster or Network Solutions; there are hundreds if not thousands of possibilities), click on its “transfer” option for domain names, pay the fee and let the new registrar do the rest. It usually is a quick and simple process.

You won’t receive a refund from Go Daddy, but you will not be giving any more money to it (and animal-killer Parsons) in the future. For extra satisfaction, please use our no-hassles automated system to send Parsons a letter that states how absolutely appalled you are, too, by his murderous vacation.

For the animals — for the innocent elephants,

P.S. Interested in doing more to protect elephants? Please consider making a donation to our Elephant Defense Fund.